Acceptance
by Rune-Spirit
Summary: Kinda dark Sakura fic, written in a weird mood. Selfloathing to the max about her appearance, intelligence, and strength. Extremely light SasuSaku implications.


RS: I'm tired of everyone being like 'Why isn't Naruto accepted?' 'Why isn't Sasuke accepted?' or even 'Poor Hinata, the lonely heiress, why isn't she accepted?' I say 'What about Sakura? She doesn't have tortured a tortured homelife, put she was teased as a child. And don't you think people still find her green eyes and pink hair unnatural, even if she has grown into her wide forehead?' Sakura love, people!!!!  
Ahem, er… right, so anyway, this is sort of hypothetical. Sakura's lonely and when she's seriously hurt, her team demonstrates what she secretly strives for: Acceptance.  
It's sort of a mix between poetry and prose, some of the lines rhyme and flow, but it tells a story and not all of it does. I dunno, maybe it's just my pathetic attempt to be artsy… I can almost hear parts of it being _sung_ if that makes any sense at all, sort of a broadway-esque thing… I should stop listening to musicals before I write, this time it was Wicked, with a touch of Rent and Phantom of the Opera, and a dash of the song 'Girl Next Door' by Saving Jane and just a pinch of 'Little Shop of Horrors.'  
Blech, just ignore me. If you've read this far, I apologize for wasting your time.

* * *

**Acceptance**

Acceptance. What is acceptance? She didn't truly know, all Sakura was really sure of was that she _wanted_ it. She wanted people to hold her in their arms, to trust her, to want her around. She shivered at the thought, while perched upon that tree, who was she to want what others could not have? It was her silent decree. Was Naruto accepted? Barely, so what made her more deserving? But it was her desire, nonetheless.

'Maybe then he'll notice me…' 

Her chromatic hair was tawdry, her eyes suffered a serious case of verdigris, and truly she was a sight to make eyes sore. It left her undeniably onegry. And, to conceal her obvious flaws, she required herself to be purely polished. Perfect, she had to be perfect. Perfect skin, perfect hair, and whether it was hers or theirs, there were broken hearts everywhere she turned. She was always saying no to her fan boys, and was never kind to Naruto or Lee, despite her well acquaintance with rejection. Hair always in place, not a strand could stick up. As a child, she'd been a disgrace, secretly grimacing at her mother's faux loving embrace. How could she love someone so defective? Sakura knew the truth, that inside she was ugly, though her friends seemed to regard her adoringly.

But no, they didn't really. Who could love such a foul, loathsome carcass? It brought back the theory of perfection, clandestinely striving to be the greatest Kunoichi and top of the class. But always she failed; dieting made her no more beautiful, studying made her no smarter, and training made her no more powerful. And yet she strived on to be all those things, for mediocrity was _not_ an option. It was utter, unrivaled perfection, complete utopianism, or failure at life. Average was just not good enough, only flawless would do.

Then maybe they'd accept her, but nothing was ever easy. Everything came at a price. For the past near week Sakura didn't eat, and that took its toll as it became too difficult to speak. She awoke at dawn to train, and continued until evening. She then proceeded to spend hours upon hours reading. No food, no fun, and no more than three hours of sleep was not a healthy schedule. But who ever said achieving perfection was healthy? She's already reached her goal weight, and lighter, but what was dropping a few extra pounds, just for caution? After all, muscle weighs more than fat. And sure when she read, her eyes grew bleary, but perhaps she'd remember the information. Her eyes were only pinkish, not red. And so what if she worked out using her own, slightly more intense training methods? Kakashi-sensei was far too preoccupied with Naruto and Sasuke. Who could blame him really? Surely she didn't. The needs of the Kyuubi and the Sharingan greatly exceeded those of a weak little girl with a grotesquely unnatural appearance.

The closer she came to perfection, the closer people came to overlooking her multitude of flaws.

"All right you three," her teacher's voice sizzled through the microphone as a low rumbling pain spreading through her stomach, causing her to double over, "now's when we retrieved that scroll from these rouge ninja, while they've let their guard down."

Straightening her body, she promised herself she'd really show them this time; really prove her hard work had its worth.

"In three…"

Who knew, maybe she'd even reach it…

"Two…"

The catalyst to her dream goal, the key to her acceptance…

"One…"

Perfection.

"GO!"

* * *

The world was spinning out of control all around her. She vaguely noted that the group of missing nins they'd been sent to attack appeared to be incapacitated. The one she'd been fighting lay far more damaged than the others at the base of a tree.

_/"Be careful, she's got pink hair… and __**green**__ eyes! It's unnatural, a bad omen… don't touch her, it'll bring us bad luck!"/_

"Don't die, Sakura! Please, please don't die!" Naruto's normally boisterous voice floated to her left ear, sounding as if it was whispered through a veil. The other remained utterly silent, detecting no noise. She was lying on something- no, some_one_. Kakashi-sensei… surely a grown man did not appreciate acting as a human pillow!

'_Great job, Sakura! You're a joke and a disgrace. What will you possibly do with yourself now? Get up. Get. Up!_' her mind was screaming, raging, _'What will he think of you now? Weak, forever weak, and useless… that's all you are, and that's all you'll ever be! Fucking cheap floozy, GET UP!'_

Slowly, with limbs of lead and rusted joints, she pulled herself from her teacher's legs. A blurry figure appeared in her right eye, but she could not make it out for that side of her face was bruised and beaten into sensitivity. The figure began to push her back down, a strong force thrust upon her shoulders.

"S-stop it, Naruto," she guessed, her voice raspy and light, causing her pain with a mere whisper, "I h-h-h-have t-to get-"

"Some rest." That voice, coming from the fuzzy blue figure… it sounded ten times further away than the blonde's ever did. It was rougher, more intense, and yet still boyish. It was so familiar; she identified it in a heartbeat, but knew it untrue. He cared nothing for her, and romantic delusions were nothing to pursue. When she reached perfection, _that's_ when she would hear him say such things, when he would actually see her. Her mind was only playing tricks on her, why would he waste his breath on someone so unworthy?

"Sasuke's right," the man's words caused her heart to soar, "you suffered an immense beating, and took on many injuries. What on earth were you _thinking_?"

"I-I-I'm sorry K-Kakashi-sensei," she strived to speak properly, not to give in to the impotence of a stutter, and yet her voice worked improperly, sounding bleak and battle worn, "I th-th-th-th-thought I was ready." even forming simple words had become a laborious chore. Oh how truly feeble and insufficient she was! "I d-didn't mean to c-c-cause any i-in-inc-incon-inconven-ience f-for-"

"Hush, Sakura," he lowered his voice to a soft and gentle rumble, "save your strength. I've already sent Pakkun for help."

"D-don't bother." Her words stopped all three men in their tracks, caused them to gaze pityingly at the fragile girl nestling her head in their sensei's lap, "It's not w-worth it, anym-more. It makes no difference-"

"Sakura," her elder chastised, "you shouldn't talk like that."

"B-but it's true," she pressed, licking her dry and cracked lips, "j-just _look_ at m-me. H-ha-have you ever seen anything so u-unnatural?"

"Sakura," that shapeless figure intervened again, "does this have anything to do with what those ninja said?"

_/"Damn, bitch, if you weren't a wicked spawn I might consider doing you- FUCK, THAT STUPID BITCH BIT ME!"/_

"S-Sasuke…"

_/"Holy shi- don't touch me! You're __**cursed**__ now!"/_

"Why should anything those guys said ever matter?" Naruto wondered, "It's what's inside that counts! And besides, no one else agrees with them. Right?" The girl only turned away from him in shame. All three of her self-appointed guardians exchanged clandestine glances.

"Sakura," the copy-nin soothed, "You don't have to please anyone else…"

"Y-you wouldn't underst-stand…" she wheezed. His vision searched her body up and down, regarding her seriously.

"You've been looking completely washed out, lately. How much have you slept?"

"P-plenty."

His eye hardened on her, "Sakura, don't lie to me. What time did you wake this morning?"

"Five-thirty, same as a-always."

"Fine then, what time did you get to bed?"

"I d-d-don't see how any of th-this matters."

'_Be strong! Don't you see? In the end, when we're strong, he'll be proud of you, proud of us, proud of __**me**__.'_ His one visible eye regarded her so sadly. Naruto felt a slight liquid well up in his eyes, but quickly blinked it away. Sasuke shifted to regard her pityingly.

"Please, Sakura, we're only trying to help you."

It was silent for a moment.

"… Two." A simultaneous wince spread across her comrades.

"For how long?"

"A little over a week, I guess."

"Why-" a loud moan reverberated from her abdomen causing her to cry out, curled up in agony, "… Don't tell me you skipped lunch during an important mission, too."

"I-I had a big breakfast."

The blond cocked his head confusedly, "What are you talking about? What about this morning, y'know when we went to Ichiraku for breakfast? You didn't have anything because you had a big dinner the night before." A cold quiet settled across the group, and then he snapped. Yanking her up and into his arms, the figure from earlier glared lividly.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he screamed angrily, shaking her with every word.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi ripped the boy's hands from the girl and laid her form back down, "Settle down." Her head was spinning, bleary with whiplash.

"Sensei," the younger fired back, "just _look_ at her! When did she get so damn stupid!" Tears filled the tiny girl's eyes.

"Sasuke, that's enough."

"Why is you solution always never to say anything?" Naruto busted in, "You _knew_ something was wrong, and you just didn't say anything. We all knew something was wrong, but we didn't say anything. And now look what happened."

"Sakura could _die_, sensei." Sasuke spoke, face void of emotion. He looked down at the silently crying girl, her eyes averted.

"If you die," he whispered just loud enough so she could hear, "I'll always think you're pathetic."

"H-hai, Sasuke, I am weak." She coughed. And then help arrived.

* * *

It took a long time, but eventually it all happened. Really it did… Sakura did leave the hospital; her teacher did give her flowers and a hug. That blond boy did once more begin to joke and smile, refusing to be outdone by the raven haired one. Sasuke did take her hand, and their eyes did meet, and with sudden silence, her cheeks burned with pink heat. Her proud teacher twirled a curl into her hair with his finger's gentle whirl… all three accepted that perfectly ordinary yet perfectly lovely little girl.

And heaven knows that it took time for them to build back her strength, for it wasn't from merely physical weakness she suffered from the wounds engulfing her body. Her mind was forever scarred, but maybe she could let go of that.

**The End**

* * *

RS: Just some bullshit I typed up at 3 AM. So please review my crap………… yeah. 


End file.
